Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 173
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Chapter 40
It seemed like I had seen the stress indicator floating above Adam’s head.
Could it really have been from that time?
But when strange things are floating above someone’s head, it’s only natural for one’s gaze to be drawn there.
I hadn’t even considered how my reaction would appear to Adam.
I never expected a character in the game to notice.
“Adam should have been a detective instead of a Hero!”
How could a character figure out the game system!
I was so shocked that I didn’t notice Adam watching my reaction with keen interest.
Goosebumps instantly spread up the back of my neck.
All of Adam’s actions up until now, and all my actions of secretly sending messages to avoid being discovered as the Deity, flashed through my mind.
Your Deity agrees that I saw it too!
Your Deity is curious about who that person is.
As memories of my past actions pretending to be sent by God surfaced, my face instantly turned red.
I was so embarrassed that I wanted to pull out all the mice right now and hide in a mouse hole.
“H-how did Adam figure all of that out…?”
“I just had a feeling something was there. And that it was important to Eve.”
Knowing all along while pretending not to know and playing dumb!
After the embarrassment passed, only a subtle sense of betrayal remained.
If you had told me earlier, I wouldn’t have done such embarrassing things! When someone is digging down to the core with a shovel, you could have at least corrected me…
“I just wanted to let Eve do what she wanted. And honestly, I liked that Eve was trying so hard for my sake.”
Adam smiled gently and honestly revealed his inner thoughts.
But to me, wanting to crawl into a mouse hole right now, it wasn’t content that resonated.
In the end, I decided to confess everything to Adam.
“Adam, you knew I could see messages, or rather, those things, yet you managed not to find it strange…”
Back then, nothing was more important to me than that stress indicator.
When I briefly explained what had happened to Adam, he nodded as if he understood.
“So you came here for my sake after all.”
Adam smiled as if enchanted and blushed.
Could that really be interpreted so romantically?
I tilted my head, even forgetting to hold him accountable.
“Y-yes, that’s right…”
I affirmed in a voice that was barely audible.
If I didn’t affirm here, it felt like Adam would torment me for days.
“But Adam, how did you wait until I told you directly?”
Knowing everything, Adam didn’t rush me as he watched me desperately deny his feelings.
He didn’t manipulate my guilt by bringing up being a god, and simply showed me his heart.
“It wasn’t difficult.”
Adam answered with a clear face showing no worry at all.
It was the face of someone who knew I wouldn’t reject him.
“I simply knew Eve’s heart just as I knew my own feelings toward Eve.”
“Because I’m Adam’s god?”
When I asked, Adam smiled gently.
“I fell in love with you, not as a god, from the beginning.”
As expected, I couldn’t win against Adam.
And there was no need to win. He was someone who would always let me win whenever I wanted. It was the same even when I was desperately denying my own feelings. Because Adam knew I wanted him, he helped me be honest.
“But my answer was too late.”
“That was… partly because of the Quest too!”
If I had accepted Adam’s feelings, the Quest might have malfunctioned again. The Quest seemed to be greatly influenced by Adam’s psychology, so I had to be careful.
Perhaps it was somewhat fortunate that the unknown entity issuing the Quest seemed to be on Adam’s side.
I frowned slightly at the identity of the mysterious helper that still puzzled me.
Could it be a ‘real’ god?
For that to be true, there hadn’t been any artifacts left behind by gods so far. Rather, there were more traces of the Saint remaining.
But what could the Saint, who was merely human, possibly do?
However, Adam seemed to have some idea.
“Hmm, actually I do have some suspicions about that…”
Adam muttered quietly as if deep in thought.
“You have suspicions?”
“It’s not certain. I’ll tell you when I’m more confident.”
Adam grinned and said.
Listen here, Game Developer.
Our Adam really should have been a detective instead of a Hero.
The job selection was wrong.
Please add detective as a second job advancement Quest.
To think he could penetrate and understand the inner workings of his own world while searching for the person issuing the Quest.
“So the Quest told me to help Adam kill the Demon King, and that’s how I came here.”
I don’t know if he understood the game system, but Adam nodded as if he comprehended.
“So that’s why it kept repeating.”
Adam had been feeling something was off about the things that hadn’t changed through regression and restarts.
The grand framework of becoming a Hero and killing the Demon King repeated identically. Feeling this dissonance, he would have gradually remembered his previous regressions.
I playfully asked Adam, who seemed lost in thought about the now-vanished cycles.
“Adam, if it hadn’t been me but some other god connected to Adam, would you have chosen that god?”
“No.”
Iberis fell silent at the answer that was ruthlessly firm.
“I told you, didn’t I? I like Eve because she’s Eve.”
“…”
I looked at Adam.
A mixture of slight fear, surprise, and relief made my head spin.
“For me, there’s only Eve.”
Adam said with a smile.
“In the future, and even now.”
Adam reached out and took my hand. Naturally intertwining our fingers, Adam stared at me intently.
“So couldn’t Eve stay by my side too?”
My face instantly flushed red.
Even though I knew the feelings Adam had shown me all along, this was the first time he had cornered me so completely that I couldn’t move.
As if now he had to hear an answer.
‘And I too…’
I had no intention of running away anymore.
But when my answer was delayed, Adam playfully tugged at my fingers.
Even that small urging gesture made me laugh.
“Is my answer important?”
I smiled mischievously.
Adam was always like this.
Always knowing the answer yet trying to confirm my feelings.
Knowing it was a trap, I decided to willingly fall into it.
“It seems like Adam already knows my answer.”
Adam laughed brightly.
“Well, I wanted to hear it directly from Eve’s lips.”
A gentle smile played around Adam’s lips.
He smiled as brightly as if he owned the world.
In the end, I no longer avoided him and faced Adam directly.
There was nothing left to fear anymore.
I only wanted to stay by his side longer.
“I like you, Adam. No matter what happens, these feelings will never change.”
“Eve will never know how long I’ve waited for this day.”
* * *
I told Adam everything from when I encountered Abaddon in the mansion to all the strange things he had said.
“The Demon King’s resurrection is not far off.”
I nodded.
The demons who had been quietly holding their breath were beginning to move.
That meaning was certainly not good news for humans.
“So Abaddon was also able to invade my mansion at will.”
The more power the Demon King regains, the stronger the demons who inherited his power become as well.
Thinking back to Abracxas who had groveled before me after the Demon King died, his state back then was hardly befitting of a demon.
The Demon King and demons who had completely regained their power.
Even for Adam, it would be difficult to face all of them.
We need to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible…
‘…If only I hadn’t let Abaddon escape.’
I could have reduced Adam’s burden.
I trembled with frustration.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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